Method of and machine for mechanically curling hair



Oct. 8, 1957 s. o. STAGEBERG 2,808,838

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MECHANICALLY CURLING HAIR Filed Sept. 20, 1954 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 ind/1% Oct. 8, 1957 s. o. STAGEBERG ,80 8

I METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MECHANICALLY CURLING HAIR United States Patent METHfiD OF AN" D MACH E-FOR K I- CALLY CURLING HAIR Sterling 0. Stageberg, St. Bonifacius, Minn. A plieafion September 20, 1954, Serial No. 456,954 14" Claims. (Cl. 132 -7) This invention relates to the art of curling hair.

Heretofore hair curling in the sense here intended gener'ally has been done by the so-called permanent wave technique which requires the use of chemical solutions such as thioglyc'olic acid. That method or technique gives the hair a curl which ordinarily outlasts at least six shampoos, but it greatly reduces the natural strength of the hair, as evidenced by its elasticity and breaking point under tension. Actual tests have shown that this loss of strength is approximately 20%. Therefore, until new hair has replaced the damaged hair, it is not wise to repeat the destructive action of hair curling chemicals.

Another method of curling hair heretofore Widely employed, consists of moistening or wetting the hair and wrapping it tightly around curlers, bobby pins or the like, which hold it thus until the hair dries. While putting the hair up in pin curls in this manner produces a curl without the objectionable damage to the hair which results from the use of chemical solutions, there is nothing very permanent about the curl produced. With the first shampoo or other wetting of the hair even by high humidity conditions, to say nothing of rain, all curl is lost. The present invention has as its purpose and object to combine the quasi-permanence of the permanent waving methods using chemical solutions, with the freedom from damage characteristic of the pin curl method. It achieves this desirable result Without necessitating the 'wetting of the hair or the use of heat, by mechanically applying sufficient pressure to the hair to distort it beyond its recovery point, in away to form a succession of closely spaced bends or kinks in the hair which collectively impart the .desired curl.

More specifically, the invention resides in the discovery that the results sought can be achieved if a bending pressure on the order of 1,000 p. s. i. is correctly applied to the hair and the application of this bending pressure is repeated along the length of the hair with each applica- :tion of pressure 'being confined to a minute portion of the length of the hair on the order of .030" to .050".

Eyelash curlers such as those illustrated in the patents .to Stick'el et a1. 1,699,084, Tuttle et al., 1,904,575 and GIazer-et al., 2,004,046, though they shape the eyelashes by mechanical pressure, operate upon the principle of applying a setting pressure, i. e. a relatively light pressure maintained upon' the hair until it take a set. This succeeds in temporarily giving the eyelashes the desired upturned shape, but does not distort them beyond the re- 'covery point of the hair. Accordingly, the permanence achieved by this invention cannot be obtained by the technique involved in the use of the eyelash curlers of the aforesaid patents. V

In'addition to its main purpose herein before set forth, thisinvention also has an object to provide a simple, easily manipulated, electric motor driven hand-held ma- .chine, bywhich this new method may be conveniently and-expeditiously practiced, not only byprofessional hair tylistsandbeauticians, but also in the home by anyone of-ordinar skill.

With. the above and other objects in view, which: will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel method and apparatus substantially as here inafter described and. more particularly definedby the appended claims, it being understood that such. changes in the precise embodiment of. the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope ofthe claims.

The accompanying. drawings graphicallyiillustrate the method of this invention and a complete machine constructed according to the: best :rnode' .so far devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention, and in which:

Fig. '1 is a perspective view diagrammatically illus trating the first step in the method of this invention; 1

.Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the complex mentary pressure applying members employed in the practice of the invention,- and illustrating the second Fstepin the method;

Fig. 3 is a view of. a length of hair on an. enlarged scale illustrating the succession of bends formed therein in accordance with this invention, and which collectively give the hair the curl desired;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine of this invention, partially broken awayiand in'section;

Fig; 5 is a cross-sectional view through Fig. 4 on the plane of the line 5-5;

' Fig, 6 is a perspective view of one of the complementary pressure applying members;

Fig. 7 on Sheet 1.) is across sectional view through one set of the complementary pressure applying members with a bent hair therebetween and illustrating how-such a hair is properly oriented before it is gripped and deformed by its impingement between the pressure applying members;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view througha removable carrier for the resilient anvil, whichmay be used in through Fig. .8 on the plane of the line 9-9.

The method of this invention, in its broader aspects comprises; successively subjecting minute portions of the length of hair to a bending pressureor force of :such.magnitude as to distort the hair beyond its recovery point with the successive applications ofpressure occurringat closely spaced points along the length of the hair to thereby form a multitude of bends in the hair which collectively give it the desired curl. This curl isat Ieastas permanent as .the curl produced .by the conventional permanent waving techniques .which employ chemical solutions such as thioglycolic acid. 7

More specifically, the method of this invention con sists in the following steps: Y

(1) With the hair in its natural condition .-.i. .e., .not wettednor heated, arranging a relatively small lock of hair-between a pair of complementary pressure applying members, one of which comprises a resilient anvil 5,.and the otherof whichcomprisesa blunt-edged'non-yielding blade 6 (see.Figs l and 2') the hair being-distributed crosswiseof the edge .of the blade preferably .in a single layer, with-the individualhairdisposed side by'si de.

(2) With the.lock-of.hair properly positioned between the complementary pressure applying membersESand-j as indicated 'in Fig. 51, bringing the pressure applying blade andthe adjacent surfaces ofthe depression in .the

resilient anvil to .draw the hair tightly about theedgeLof the 'blade. This action instantaneously bendsfstretches and distorts the hair beyond its recovery point and produces a definite bend or kink which is capable of withstanding shampooing six or more times.

(3) Repeating the described pressure applications at closely spaced'points along the length. of the hair, by effecting relative motion between the hair, and complementary pressure applying members, in a direction lengthwise of the hair while the complementary pressure applyingmembers are repeatedly moved toward and from one another. The result is a series of closely spaced bends or kinks formed in each hair which collectively cause the hair to curl as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 3.

('4) After all of the hair has been curled in this manner, .it may be shampooed and set'inthe customary Way.

The resilient anvil 5 may be a suitably supported block of-rubber or neoprene," but whatever is used for "this purpose, it should have a resilience on the order' f 70 on a Shore durometer. The other pressure applying l as previously indicated, is between .030" and'.050" long,

and is sufiicient to distort the hair-beyond its normal, recovery point, without danger of damaging the hair in anywise. It is important that the hair be in its normal or natural condition at the time it is subjected to the deforming or bending pressure. Excessive oiliness or wetting of the hair increases the difliculty of achieving the desired perihanent set. Apparently, when the hair-is wet, it becomes limp, and therefore not amenable to the forging action which is believed to take place during the application of the described bending force. Nor is it necessary to apply heat to the hair during this operation.

Though good results can be achieved if the surface of the resilient anvil upon which the hair is placed (as shown in Fig. 1) is unbroken, better results are obtained if a "groove 7 is formed therein to receive the edge of the :blade, However, it must be understood that the presence 1 of'such a groove does notobviate the need for exerting pressure on the. order of 1,000 p. s. i. upon the hair.

Hence, the blade 6. should travel far enough to drive "its edge below the normal depth of thegroove an amount substantially on the order of .015". p I The presence of a groove in the resilient anvil increases "the grip upon the hair since the sides of the groove are drawn together as the blade presses against the bottom of the groove, and as a result the cinching action drawing the hair over and around the edge of the blade 6 is ;improved.

The machine illustrated in Figs. 4 to 9 inclusive, is

tadmirably suited to the practice of this inventon. In

this machine the complementary pressure applying mem- ;bers comprise three stationary rigid. fingers 8 and two movable fingers 9. The middle and one of the two side fingers 8 have longitudinal grooves 10 in one side thereof in which blocks or strips of ..rubber.or neoprene are 11 seated to provide two anvils 11 similar to the anivls 5 shown in Fig. 1, and the middle finger and other side finger 8 have deeper longitudinal grooves in the. other side thereof to accommodate the movable fingers 9 as best shown in Fig. 5. The grooves 12 are deep enough to allow the movable fingers to have translatory motion 1 toward and from engagement with the resilient anvils.

All of the fingers are parallel to one another, the stationary fingers 8 being rigidly connected at their roots ;by a hollow base portion 13 and the movable fingers9 being rigidly connected by a base portion 14 received in 2,808,838 I V av the hollow base 12. Any suitable coacting slidably engaging guide surfaces on the bases 13 and 14 may be employed to constrain the movable fingers to-the desired translatory motion, and in the present case such guidance is achieved through the use of a square shaft 15 anchored at its ends in the opposite end walls 16 of the hollow base portion 13 and slidably received in a square hole 17 in the base portion 14.

The fingers 9 are formed with blades 18 similar to.the blades 6 shown in Fig. l which face the anvils 11. Ohviously, as the base portion 14 with its integral movable fingers 9 is slid back and forth along the square shaft 15, the blades 18 of the movable blades 9 are brought into and out of clamping engagement with the resilient anivls 11. To facilitate the insertion of the hair between the two sets of these complementary pressure applying members, the inner surfaces of the outer end portions of the fingers 9 and of the resilient anvils 11 are disposed at an angle tothe' axes ofthe fingers and diverge from one another.

Back and forth translatory motion is imparted to the movable finger unit by an electric motor indicated generally by the numeral 19, the housing of which has the structure thus far described mounted on one end thereof so that the housing serves as a handle for the machine.

Though the manner of mounting the stationary and movabel fingers on the motor housing forms no part of this invention, forthe sake of completeness of description, the hollow stationary base 13 may be shaped and formed to telescope over a necked outer end 20 of a gear tease 21'fixed to the adjacent end of the motor housing. The gear case 21, as in an electric hand-held hair clipper, contains the transmission mechanism by which rotation of the motor shaft 22 is translated into back andforth movement of the movable fingers 9. -One-such mechanism suitable for this purpose may comprise a worm 23 fixed to the motor shaft and meshing with a worm wheel 2 The worm Wheel turns an eccentric 25 which through a link 26 rocks a medially pivoted lever 27, the lever 27 being connected as at 28 with the base 14 of the movable finger unit. The connection 28 may comprise a -'cross slot 29 in the base 14, and a suitably shaped driving head 30 on the end of the lever 27.

With an electric motor of the type ordinarily employed in an electric hand-heldclipper the moving finger unit -may be reciprocated back and forth at a rate of 500 to 3,000 cycles per minute. Such a motor is sufficiently light to enable the entire machine to weigh no more than one and one-half pounds, and will drive the movable blades with a force sufiicient to bring about the results described in the explanation of the method, pro- -vided that the edges of the blades 18 are convex or rounded on a radius of about .010" and the resilience of the anvils 11 is about 70 on a Shore durometer, while drawing only approximately 35 watts per hour.

- 18 will be driven about .015" below the normal bottom of these grooves.

Experience has demonstrated that some hair requires more pressure than others in order to attain the results sought by this invention. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide means for adjusting the pressure exerted upon the hair by its impingement between the movable bladelike fingers and the resilient stationary anvils. Such adjustmentmay be conveniently provided by an eccentric i mounting for the post 31 about which the lever 27 rocks or pivots. Rotation of the post thus moves the pivot axis for the lever 27 to the right or left, as viewed in Fig. 4 depending upon the direction of rotation. Movement of this axisfd the Iff never tlf sphere r" range of fia; tion of the movable finger unit away from tlfefresil'ieiit aiiv'il s arm- Ehefeby' decreases the pressure applied upon tlie'h'air, wlir'as niqvemeat iii the opposite dire'ctioii of this aiiis increases the pressure imposed upon the hair. T6 effect siich" shifting df the about whih the lever 21 rocks the past 31 maybe turned 5y menisci a lever 32 fiiid thereto and also serving as an ihdicatifigpointer Ebrj'fifbl with a scale 33'. 4

in using this machine, the wearer arranges murders of hair in the space between tlziecdoperating firig'rsa tid with the motor riin ii irig' re rapidly fecui'i'eiftly drive the edges of the blades 18; of the movable fing'efs' into the re iment anvil's" II of the stationary fihg'efs" moves the entire machine along flieleii'g tli of the locks artiste to thereby H 'diie' a fies of closely spaced bends er the nan iii t e mffiii'f preparing described. If v s' of the natiife that earning the desired results to I55. dent-even by"; one can pass", 136 amenity isjeiiifieiiced iii having the" Hair rapeny oriented t6 the coinritii'y p fssiife appl inginefnbe rs but iffiiiiltiple passes are needed, or if use hair already has sane iii'dication of a curl, itis important that the individual hairs be so disposed with ie'spct to" the c'oiiipleriititafy pres: sure applyf members that the concave side of any bend th'er'iii will be presented to the edge of the blade. This may entail partial rotation of each individual hair on it's' To automatically rotate and this properly drient the; hair as required, the two iiiigrsfi Having the r'silie'i t' anvils 11 thereon are each equipped' with guidqrails 34 extending longitudinally of the fingers in parallel relation thereto at a distance out fiofn the fingers upon which they ate mounted. These rails pro'vid supports for the hair spaced outwardly from the zone of action so that as the edge of the movable blade coines in contact with the hair supported by these ra'i-ls; it' will force any inedire'c'tly ofiented hair to rotate on its aids and thereby dispose its concave side to the approaching blade as illustrated in Fig.7. The guide rails 34 are conveniently formed near lengths of suitably stiif' secuifed to the outer ends and the rootsof the fingers 8" on which they are mounted.

While a rubber or neoprene block will stand up for a very long time under the hammering to which it is subjected in this machine, it may be desirable to periodi cally renew the resilient anvil. To permit such renewal or replacement, the rubber or neoprene block or anvil 11 may be fixed to a removable holder 35 as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. This holder is preferably formed of sheet material and is shaped to telescope or slip snugly onto the stationary fingers 8 which carry the resilient anvils.

The machine described provides a convenient means for practicing the method of this invention, and to illustrate its effectiveness it may be noted that test swatches of hair curled by the use of this machine and subjected to the same laboratory tests employed to determine the effectiveness of conventional permanent wave techniques, have demonstrated that the curl produced by the use of this machine and the practice of this invention not only was as permanent as a curl produced by the conventional permanent waving techniques which necessitate the use of chemical solutions, but in addition did not damage the hair or in anywise impair its strength or elasticity. The laboratory tests conducted evaluated the following factors:

(1) Grams per denier using 5% elongation.

(2) Grams per denier to rupture of hair.

(3) Percentage of elongation before rupture. (4) Post yield slope.

These are the factors which determine the damage to the elasticity and strength of the hair, and in the case of chemically curled hair, the tests showed that the damage ran plus. By contrast, hair curled in accordance with this invention showed damage to be less than experimental error, i. e. less than one-half of one percent.

er instance rubber of pressure It is, of ediirb, tin rstood ftli'at tier-fine tiair ha s' been curled by the mi d of this invention, it is' sfhafiipooedand woundtightly ar-aired tuners" and" auawd to them-guy dry. U on drying it will have an even smooth wave. v

Fro'r ii" the foregoing" dsc'ri 5"n taken in connection with the a companyin dfaw it readily ap-' parent to 'tliose sk illd iii the art that invention vide's: an entirely: new ahdnovel r'rie thdd of curling hair which has the adv "rage of obviating the need for chemical sentient, insist eand/er hear, nd mates a rethe desired permanenc of cuil i s acl ii vcd withoutth hjecfionable damage to the lia Iiicli is characteristic ()fitlie conventional perm tieiit'waviiig tcchhiqi'ie requiring ii 'iis es; posiss'iire applying f0 tried of'resilient material, as V o are having a' resilience oii tlijl ofdtidf 701ml a Shliof" Djiir V, et'i and the other of l is in the fo'frii of a non-yielding blade, the edge of which is coiive'idyciii-ved 611 a radius of approiiiniately .QIOT withthe hair extending crosswise of the edge of nausea; brid ing saidjrssin applyi members togarner with a ford sutficieht to drive the edge of the bladelintd the resilient member to a depth on the order (if .015" it; disma apply mechanical pressurelategallY on a minute portion of the hair, on the order o f .03 0' to OSiJ'QlEiii'g} which pressure is -siifi'ic'ient to bend, stretch afid distort the hair Beyo d it's rec'o y ery point; and repeatin'g said pr essfire application while effecting relative movement between the hairand the complementary applying members lerigthwise of the hair-so that the deformatior s of thc hair thus produced occur at 6 i ve j e a ct e jn hb qh i 2. The metliod or curling; hair" whichcomprises: ljaying the hair across a resilient anvilgstrikjng thehaii while on the anvil with a rapid succession of sharp'blows with an edged instrument and with' sufiicient force to kinks therein;- and procuringrelati-ve' movement of t e hair with reference to the anvil transversely thereof as the same is being struck to separate the kinks formed therein.

3. A hair curling machine comprising: a pair of 00- operating pressure applying members, one thereof constituting an anvil constructed of resilient material, and the other thereof constituting a blade having a transversely curved edge having a radius of approximately .010"; means mounting said members for relative movement toward and from one another with the edge of the blade facing the anvil; and power means drivingly connected to said members for effecting rapidly recurrent impingementof one of said members upon the other with a force sufiicient to sharply bend hair received therebetween.

4. A hair curling machine comprising: an anvil having a V-shaped groove with a transversely curved bottom, said anvil being constructed of resilient material; a blade having a body with an edge conforming in configuration to the bottom of the groove; and guide means acting between said anvil and blade for guiding said blade for movement into and out of said groove, said anvil yielding at the bottom of the groove when said blade is forcibly directed into the same to urge the end of the blade into the bottom of the groove of the anvil with a force sufiicient to sharply bend hair received therebe-- tween.

5. The method of curling hair which comprises: laying the hair between two cooperating pressure applying members, one of which has a resilient supporting surface and the other a relatively rigid thin narrow striking edge; bringing said members together with the thin narrow edge of the latterimpinging the resilient supporting surface of the former in rapid succession with sharp striking blows and with sufficient force to form kinks in the hair;v

appease and procuring relativemovement between the hair and said members in the direction of the length of the hair to separate the kinks formed therein. i 6 A mechanical hair curling machine comprising: a body providing a handle for the machine; a pair of cooperating pressure applying members having co-engageable jaws, one of which comprises a resilient anvil and the other a non-yielding blade having a blunt edge; means fixing one of said pressure applying members rigidly to the body; means movably mounting the other pressure applying member upon the body and constraining it to translatory movement toward and from said first named pressure applying member, with the blunt edge of the non-yielding blade facing the resilient anvil; power drive means; transmission means drivingly connecting the movable pressure applying member with the power drive means to .efiect rapidly recurrentpower driven impingeinent of one pressure applying member upon the other with a-force sutficient to sharply bend hair received between the pressure applying members, whereby moyement of the machine along the length of a lock of hair received between the jaws of its pressure applying members results in a series of sharp bends along the length of the hair.

7. The hair curling machine of claim 6 further characterized by the provision of a control in the driving connection between the power means and the driven pressure applying member to adjust the pressure exerted on the hair by said impingement. i 8. The hair curling machine of claim.6 further characterized by the fact that the edge of the non-yielding blade is convex and has a radius on the order of .010", and by the fact that the resilient material has a resilience on the order of 70 on a Shore Durometer.

9. The hair curling machine of claim 8 further characterized by the fact that the power means brings the jaws of the cooperating pressure applying members together with a force suflicient to drive the edge of the blade into the resilient anvil to a depth on the order of .015".

10. The hair curling machine of claim 8 further characterized by the fact that the surface of the resilient anvil -8 has a groove therein of a size to snugly receive the edge oi theblade. 11. .The hair curling machine of claim 10 further characterized by the fact that the range of relative motion between the pressure applying members is such that the edge of the blade is driven approximately .015" below the normal level of the bottom of the groove.

12. The hair curling machine of claim 6 further characterized by the provision of means at opposite sides of the zone of engagement between the jaws of the cooperating pressure applying members for supporting the hair off the surface of the resilient anvil so that any individual hair which has a preformed bend or curve therein and which happens to occupy a position in which the convex side of the bend faces the blade, is automatically rotated as the jaws come together to face the convex side of the bend or curvc'in the hair towards the surface of the anvil.

13. The hair curling machine of claim 6 further characterized by the fact that the cooperating pressure applying members comprise spaced parallel fingers, and by the fact that the movable finger provides the blunt-edged blade, and the stationary finger has the resilient anvil thereon.

14. The hair curling machine of claim 13 further characterized by the fact that the anvil is formed by a piece of resilient material removably mounted on the stationary finger, and wherein the means for removably mounting said piece of resilient material comprises a removable holder on the stationary finger, and means securing the piece of resilient material to the holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,699,084 Stickel et al Jan. 15, 1929 1,897,719 Birk Feb. 14, 1933 1,904,575 Tuttle et al Apr. 18, 1933 2,004,046 Glaser et al. June 4, 1935 2,440,188 Stroll Apr. 20, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 717,708 France Oct. 26, 1931 504,334 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1939 

